Page 43 of Sunny Sundays at Primrose Hall

‘No, thankfully. I’m glad he and I got the chance to clear the air. Now, all of that is very much in the past. It’s just…’

Sophie let her words and thoughts trail away, but there was no chance Greta would allow her to get away with that.

‘Just what?’ Greta shifted her body so that she was facing Sophie, placing an arm along the back of the sofa.

‘Well…’ She paused, wondering where to start. She’d been hugging her feelings for Tom to herself, unsure whether it was just a passing infatuation, or the beginnings of something more serious. Would voicing her feelings aloud give them an importance that wasn’t really warranted? ‘I’ve told you about Tom?’

‘Oh, he’s Jackson’s brother, isn’t he? And he’s managing the stables now?’

‘That’s right.’ Sophie couldn’t help the smile that twisted at her lips which Greta noticed immediately, and the significance of it, eliciting a knowing and wide-eyed stare.

‘Ah, I see… So it’s another man causing you sleepless nights, but for all the right reasons this time, I’m hoping?’

‘Yes, I mean, we’ve always got on really well ever since we first met up at Primrose Hall on Christmas Day. I honestly never thought I’d run into him again but since getting to know him better at the stables, well, we’ve really enjoyed hanging out together.’

‘Well, that’s good, isn’t it? Do you think there might be romance on the cards?’

‘I don’t know.’ That’s where it got sticky for Sophie. ‘You know I always said I wasn’t interested in seeing anyone else, not after Kyle. Honestly, I think I’d resigned myself to being forever single, but then I realised I was beginning to develop some kind of feelings for Tom.’

‘And does Tom know about this?’

‘That’s the thing. I don’t really know. He’s in a similar situation. It wasn’t that long ago that he broke up with his long-term girlfriend and we both kind of bonded over being free and single, and saying how happy we were that way. We’ve met up a couple of times in the pub and he came round for supper one night, which was really lovely. I suppose it was seeing him here, sharing a meal, chatting and laughing over the same things that made me think how nice it was spending time with him. It felt so natural and easy, as though we were a proper couple and it got me thinking… I mean he is really hot.’ There was a smile on Sophie’s lips as she brought Tom’s handsome face to mind. ‘I should imagine it would be very easy to fall for him.’

‘So, what’s stopping you?’

‘The thought that I might have got it all wrong. That he meant what he said. That he is actually happy being single andhe just sees me as a friend. Oh, God, Greta, I’m so hopeless at this sort of thing, and now I’ve got the thought in my head, of where it could go, it’s all I’m thinking about.’

‘Sounds to me as though you have a bad case of lovesickness.’ Greta chuckled, seeing Sophie’s stricken expression. ‘You know you could just be upfront and tell him how you feel.’

‘Are you mad?’ Sophie spluttered over her Prosecco. ‘I might be a modern and independent woman and all that, but that really is taking things too far. What if he tells me straight that he doesn’t see me in that way?’

‘Well… at least then you’d know.’

‘What if he rips out my heart, tears it into tiny shreds and tosses it in the bin?’

Greta shook her head indulgently.

‘That’s always a possibility. It’s a risk you take when you fall in love with someone. If you’re not quite ready then you’ll just have to take it slowly and see where it goes.’

Sophie sighed and took another mouthful of the delicious frothy bubbles that tickled her nose. It was definitely helping talking it through with Greta. If she had any doubt about her feelings for Tom, then voicing them aloud had made her realise it was already too late. Despite her best intentions, she’d found herself mooning around like a teenage girl, wondering if and when Tom might call her. She hated herself for it, but she was also secretly enjoying the excruciating swirl of emotions that had last tormented her mind when she’d been one of those teenage girls herself.

‘I guess… When he left the pub the last time I saw him, he said he’d call me to arrange a date to go out for something to eat, as a thank you for hosting him for supper the other week.’

‘Well, that sounds promising then?’

‘I know, I thought so too, but I’m still not sure if he means a platonic dinner between friends or something more intimate,like a date. And of course it’s all totally irrelevant because he hasn’t rung yet! I’m wondering if he’s having second thoughts. Honestly, it shouldn’t be this difficult!’

‘It’s only difficult because you’re making it so. Looking for problems where there are none. There could be any number of reasons why he hasn’t called yet.’

‘Like he’s changed his mind!’ Sophie said flatly.

‘No, he could just be very busy at work. Or perhaps he’s poorly?’ Greta shrugged her shoulders. ‘Well, you know what men are like. It’s probably man flu or something, and he’s been laid up in bed for days.’

‘Oh!’ Sophie didn’t like the sound of that at all. ‘I wonder if I should call him then? I could run him round some honey and lemon.’ She quickly thought better of the idea. ‘More likely, just after I saw him, he bumped into a gorgeous, lithe, red-haired creature at the garage and they’ve disappeared off into the sunset together.’

‘Why the garage?’

‘That’s not important,’ she chided Greta. ‘It could have been anywhere. At the launderette, or the supermarket or the garden centre. What’s important is that he’s met his soulmate, has completely forgotten about me and is living out his happy-ever-after.’

---